Method for flanging tubular bodies



H. R. AUSTIN Filed Nov. 9, 1940 METHOD FOR FLANGING TUBULAR BODIES 3 FHL a 2 3 W v 2 x 4 6 u 4 5 fq w M H m F F m m 5;

Feb. 2, 1943.

flfl/WAO A. HMS/7N INVENTOR BY 1 ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,310,158 METHOD FOR FLANGING TUBULAR BODIES Harold R. Austin, South Norwalk, Conn, asslgnor to The M. W. Kellogg Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application November 9, 1940, Serial No. 364,975 1 Claim. (01. 29-1482) This invention relates in general to the flanging of the ends of tubular bodies and in particular to the formation of integral flanges at the ends of pipes and similar tubular bodies.

The well known Van Stone joint which is in It isa further object of the invention to provide a method for forming integral flanges at the ends of tubular bodies wherein the metal of the body to be formed into the flange is increased in 5 thickness by depositing thereon and uniting common use for uniting the ends of tubulalil thereto molten metal and the ililange formed by a bodies, and particularly those intended for his single hot working step in w ich the metal is pressure service, requires flanges at the ends of deformed primarily by bending. the tubular bodies. For this purpose, and for It is also an object of the invention to provide other purposes as well, it is common practice to a method for forming integral flanges at the ends form integral flanges at the ends of tubular of tubular bodies wherein the metal of the body bodies by work deforming the metal thereof while to be formed into the flange is increased in thickin p p y heated Condition App a ausuness by uniting thereto a thickness of meta ally called Van Stone machines are available under the influence of a flux submerged electric for carrying out the fianging operation. are, and the flange formed by a single hot work- Van Stone machines 01' various designs are m t i hich th ta1 1 deformed primarily commercially available. Functionally, however, by bendjng practically all of the available machines fall into Th fu th r bj ct and advantages of the inone or the other of two roups. The m i vention will be apparent from a consideration or (fat thihfirislt group. whil g fi ulas t 8 m g i. the following desgiptlignhtaken with the accomorm e ange primari y y 11 me 8 me a panying drawing w c 'I he machin s f the s nd up, w l t Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view partly in section, hkelfilseb bend tlihe lfie l. t1: 1 'm the fl P s illustrating the manner in which metal is added mar y y upSe mg 8 me a to a pipe end h flanges produced y machines 9 the Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the added first group are seldom defective while it is not metal united to the inside metal of a pipe end uncommon to find flanges produced by the maand chines of the second group that are defective by Figs 3 4, 5, and 6 are sectional views a reason of folds and shuts iormed durmg the up mating the flange forming operation and the setting of the metal. The machines of the first apparatus employei group the flange as 01.18 step operation The invention is of general application in and require but a single heating of the metal. forming integral flanges at the ends of tubular The machines of the second group on the other bodies but is of special value when used in formhand, produce their result progressively in a pluin g such flanges at the ends of tubular bodies rality of steps and repeated heating of the work is necessary For these reasons flanges are intended for high pressure service. Also, while the invention is applicable to the forming of duced with the machines of the first group when-- flanges of any thickness it is especially useful in ever possible since re ections are lower and the f i h h h cost per flange is materially less. ng flanges m w in t e finished with the machines of the first group it is dition are as thick or thicker than the wall of seldom possible to produce a finished flange that the vessel. The invention will be disclosed in is as thick as the metal out of which it was detanm connection with the flangmg of piped. Thu a 100 oint, while it may b n accordance with the invention, the end of gggi g iannot i i g be produced the pipe to be formed into the integral flange is with the machines f t Second group on t increased in thickness to the necessary extent by other hand, flanges of any thickness, within uniting metal to the metal of the pipe wall. reasonable limits, may be produced at will. It is at pre n pr red to unite the required One of the primary objects or this inventi n metal by the well known flux-submerged electric is to provide a method for forming integral arc-welding operation. By means of this exflanges at the ends of tubular bodies by means g i i an i f il nd throughout between of which flanges may be produced of a thickness 8 p no me a and t e added metal is easily seequal to or greater than the thickness of the cured, the added metal is dense, homogeneous metal of the tubular bodies without the necessity and, when of the same analysis as the pipe metal, 01 upsetting, to a marked degree, the metal is superior to the pipe metal in strength and in formed into the flange. other desirable properties. Also, by means of termined rate.

this expedient these results can be obtained at a minimum cost.

The metal added may be of the same, or substantially the same, analysis as the metal of the pipe or the added metal may be of a different analysis. The added metal may be united to the outside or the inside metal of the pipe.

When the added metal is united to the outside metal of the pipe'apparatus of the character shown in Fig. 1 is employed. When the added metal is united to the inside metal of the pipe apparatus capable of depositing metal within the pipe is required. A satisfactory apparatus for the latter purpose is disclosed in the patent application of Martin A. Mikesh Serial No. 347,390 filed July 25, 1940, now U. S. Patent No. 2,260,260. Both apparatus include the same fundamental elements so that a description of the operation as carried out with the apparatus of Fig. 1 will sufilce.

The end of pipe l0, after having retaining ring it tack welded to it, is positioned on a suitable support l2 beneath welding head i3. Support i2 should be such as to provide for the rotation of pipe it! about its longitudinal axis at a prede- Welding head l3 may be any of the commercial welding heads suited for the purpose and should include arrangements for feeding electrode I4 toward pipe ID at a predetermined rate and for maintaining the characteristics of the electric discharge at predetermined values. The welding current is supplied to electrode 14 through contact device H) by cable Hi. the other side of the welding current supply is connected to pipe H) in a manner such that the rotation of pipe I is not interfered with. In the schematic showing of Fig. 1 cable I! is directly connected to pipe l0.

Electrode I4 is positioned overthe end of pipe l0 and then lowered until it approaches the pipe wall. When in this position the electrode end should be spaced sufficiently from the end of the pipe so that arcing will not take place between electrode l4 and retaining ring II. An arc starter such as a wad of steel wool, or the like, is interposed between the pipe wall and the electrode end. The end of the electrode and the ad- ,iacent portion of the pipe wall are then covered with a deep blanket of protective flux I8. The flux 18 is preferably in the granular form and may be applied manually or welding head l3 may include means for depositing flux l8 around the electrode end as electrode I4 is fed. When pipe I0 is of such a diameter that a sufficient depth of flux [8 to properly blanket the electric discharge cannot be retained on it, the end of pipe may be rotated in a suitable flux container in which the pipe end is completely flux submerged.

The initial current surge destroys the arc starter and establishes an are between the end of electrode l4 and the metal of pipe H). The are is automatically maintained at predetermined characteristics by welding head l3. The are fuses metal of electrode l4 and metal of pipe l0 and flux 18. The molten metals intermingle to form deposit l9 which is integrally united to the metal of pipe l0 and extends below the original surface of pipe to. By choosing electrode I4 of proper composition deposited metal l9 may be obtained having the same composition as the metal of pipe ID or it may have, within limits, any desired composition. Thus, a deposited metal l9 may be formed which has properties such as corrosion resistance, strength and the like, superior to the metal of pipe l0; deposited metal it? may be i8-8 chromium-nickel steel, high chromium steel, etc. In any event the metal it, by reason of the way it is produced, is dense clean metal of fine grain structure which even when of the same analysis is superior to the metal of pipe 80. The molten fiux covers the deposited metal 19 and protects it from the atmosphere.

Metal i9 may be deposited in the form of rings or by moving head l3 relative to pipe It! in the form of a helix. In either case the deposit is overlapped an amount suiiicient to assure continuous metal.

The thickness of deposited metal l9 above the original surface of pipe Ill may be varied within limits by varying the rate of movementof the electrode, the characteristics of the current discharge, etc. .When thicknesses greater than those obtainable by these variations are required, the required thicknesses may be obtained by repeating the metal depositing operation on the already deposited metal. While the length of the deposit l9 should at least be equal to the length of the desired flange it has been found better practice to make deposited metal lil extend a substantial distance beyond that required by the flange. The same is true of the deposited met,al ..l.j9 of the pipe ll] of Fig. 2.

The surfaces of deposited metal l9 of Fig. 1 and deposited metal IQ of Fig. 2 are generally sufficiently smooth for the work deforming operation. However, since the surface of deposited metal l9 becomes the back surface of the flange, and irregularities in it may serve as starting points for serious defects, it is often advisable to machine deposit l9 until a smooth surface is ob tained.

The flanges are. formed in the apparatus shown in Figures 3 and 5 after the pipe end has been brought to the proper working temperature. The apparatus of Figrws used for flanging the pipe end of Fig. 1 while that of Fig. 5 is used for fianging the pipe end of Fig. 2. The apparatus each includes a rotatable head 2t, that carries rollers 2| and 22 and is movable longitudinally, and a fixedly positioned split die 23 which is arranged to hold the pipe end. Roller 2| is journalled to rotate about an axis at right angles to the line of movement of head 20 while roller 22 is journalled to rotate about an axis parallel to the line of movement of head 20. The rollers are not driven. Die 23 of Fig. 1 is recessed to accommodate part way within it the enlargement that results from deposited metal l9 while the hole through die 23 of Fig. 5 is of substantially uniform diameter throughout.

The end of the pipe is clamped in its proper die 23 with a sufiicient portion extending outside of the die towards head 20 to provide the metal required to form the flange. Head 20 is then set in rotation and moved toward the die 23. Roller 2| rolls over the end of pipe l0 and works the heated metal towards die 23 while roller 22 rolls over the inside surface of the pipe end and maintains the original inside diameter. The net results of the action of the rollers is to bend the metal against the face of die 23. The resulting flange, flange 24 or flange 24, is somewhat thicker at and adjacent its base than the pipe end prior to working while at and adjacent its periphery it is about the same or even a little thinner. Thus, the action of the rollers is primarily a bending action and 'the upsetting action is an incidental result.

The formed flanges are then machined as by boring, facing. etc., to bring them to the required finished dimensions. Since, as above pointed out, any thickness of metal 19, or l9 may be deposited, flanges 24 of any required flnal thickness may be readily produced.

In the manufacture of pipe In the metal thereof is subjected to considerable working with the result that longitudinal extending flbre is developed. In the finished flange the fibre persists in the portion formed out of the original metal while the portion that results from the deposited metal is practically free from fibre. While fibrous metal has great strength in the direction of the fibre it is not equally strong in directions at an angle to the fibre. The fibre free deposited metal is, to all practical purposes, equally strong in all directions. The deposited metal, furthermore, by reason of the manner in which it is produced is remarkably clean, is homogeneous and of a fine grain structure. Thus, the ring of metal in the finished flange that results from the deposited metal, when of the same analysis, is stronger and better metal than the original metal and serves as reenforcement therefore.

It is often necessary to provide a corrosion resistant facing on flanges at the ends of pipes used in the chemical and oil refining arts. The invention provides a simple expedient for obtaining this result. By making the deposit I! of Fig. 2 of the required corrosion resistant alloy the flange is formed and faced with resistant alloy in one operation. Furthermore, when pipe I0 is lined with corrosion resistant alloy, by extending metal I! until it is united to the lining metal the usual troublesome welding required to unite the corrosion resistant lining to the corrision resistant flange facing is eliminated.

I claim:

The method of forming an integral flange at an end of a tubular body which comprises covering surface of the tubular body with a deep blanket of protective flux, discharging electric current through a gap beneath the surface of the flux blanket between the end of a metal electrode and the metal of the tubular body to fuse metal of the electrode and metal of the tubular body into a common metal deposit integrally united to the metal of the tubular body, moving the electrode over the surface of the metal of the tubular body required for the desired flange to form a continuous deposit, heating the thickened end of the tubular body to render the metal thereof sufliciently plastic for hot working, positioning the heated thickened end of the tubular body in a die with a portion of the heated thickened end extending outwardly from a face of the die disposed substantially transversely to the longitudinal axis of the tubular body, and deforming said extending portion to move it into contact with said face of the die primarily by bending.

HAROLD R. AUSTIN. 

